DIARY: Bahamian assignment proves to be a tough call

October 24, 2003

Sinclair Mason associate director Justin McKeown is recovering from what he describes as 'one of the most stressful days of my PR life', having arranged a series of long-distance interviews with a 12-year-old.

The agency, working with BT and Childline to 'highlight the need to listen to children', launched a competition with BBC kids current affairs show Newsround to find a child to be the voice of the Speaking Clock for a week.

The winner, a 12-year-old Scottish schoolgirl called Alicia, was on a cruise with her parents in the Caribbean when Sinclair Mason received media calls seeking interviews with the youngster.

McKeown says: 'I had to track down the ship and co-ordinate live interviews to the broadcast media from the Bahamas, with Alicia talking to the press from her cabin on a sat-phone'.